


About Time

by ahsokaa



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: M/M, peter parker is trans just know that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-05 22:10:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12803448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahsokaa/pseuds/ahsokaa
Summary: Peter finds himself oddly jealous when Ned befriends the mysterious Michelle Jones





	1. Chapter 1

Peter walks down the halls of Midtown High, letting out a sigh of relief. He’d just finished taking a strenuous make-up exam he’d missed last week when a bank robbery happened to overlap with his chem lab. It had taken a lot of work to convince his teacher to let him take the test and now that he’s finished, he’s late for lunch. He grabs his food and heads to the cafeteria, ready to apologize to Ned for leaving him to eat lunch by himself.

But to his surprise, the other boy isn't alone.

Seated next to Ned is Michelle Jones. “ _That’s odd_ ,” he thinks. While MJ’s presence is not entirely unusual, she normally keeps her distance, opting to keep several empty seats between herself and where Ned and Peter sit because they’re “losers”. Today, however, she’s seated directly next to Ned, leaning into him close as she whispers something in his ear. Ned shoots her a slightly annoyed look and swats at her playfully, saying something in response that causes them both to burst out laughing. Peter’s stomach twists uneasily watching the pair, an odd feeling settling in. He pushes it aside, making his way toward the table and taking a seat on the other side of Ned.

“Hey,” he greets the pair. He throws an arm around Ned’s shoulder. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” Ned answers quickly and MJ snickers.

Peter can't help but feel left out. He sits quietly the rest of lunch, playing with his food and listening to the two talk as if they've been friends their whole lives. He feels a wave of jealousy, but dismisses it immediately. After all, what does he have to be jealous of?

_______________

Peter and Ned spend the evening in his room, sprawled out on the floor finishing homework. Peter lays on his stomach, reading the same sentence over and over, unable to focus on the words in front of him. He can’t stop thinking about Ned and MJ, about how _close_ they were, and his stomach fills with that same uneasy feeling.

He sets down his pencil with a thud, causing Ned to look up at him. With a sigh, he brushes a strand of hair out of his face and rests his chin in his hand. He swallows before working up the nerve to ask the question he’s been wanting to ask all night.

“Why were you sitting with MJ at lunch?”

“Because we’re friends,” Ned says with a shrug.

“Since when?”

“I don’t know, since you ditch school all the time and I have no one else to talk to?”

He falls quiet. Immediately he feels like a horrible friend for not considering this. Of course Ned should have other people to talk to when he’s not around, especially since his periodic absences seems to keep increasing. He considers dropping the matter entirely, but the nagging feeling in his chest urges him to continue.

“You guys just seemed really close, that’s all.”

Ned gives him a questioning look. “Are you… jealous?”

His eyes go wide. “N-no! Of course not. That’s crazy. Why would I be jealous?” He laughs nervously, as though the very suggestion were a joke.

Ned shrugs again. “Dunno, MJ is pretty cute.” His eyes are trained on Peter, as if trying to gauge his reaction.

“S-sure I guess, but I’m not jealous!”

Okay, so maybe he’s a little jealous, but he still doesn’t understand why. He doesn’t like MJ like that, this much he’s sure of. She’s a friend, nothing more. He wonders if Ned might like her in that way, though. It’s an odd thought. What if she likes him too? What if they start dating? What if Ned doesn’t want to hang out with him anymore? What if-

He forces himself to stop. “ _This is crazy,”_  he thinks. “ _Ned can like whoever he wants and it shouldn’t concern me.”_

But he still can’t shake the anxious feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Ned slams his binder shut, startling Peter.  “I just remembered- my mom wants me home by 7:00,” he says as he starts to pack up his things.

“Oh.” Peter tries not to sound too disappointed. “Okay, do you want me to walk you home?”

“No- I mean, I’m good. Thanks though.” Ned gives him a weak smile.

“Okay- text me when you get there?”

“Yeah, of course, man.” He reaches his hand out to Peter’s for their handshake and Peter gladly accepts.

He sees Ned out and closes the door behind him, letting out a sigh. Aunt May pops her head out of the kitchen. “You okay, kiddo? Something you want to talk about?”

“No, not really. I don’t even know what’s bothering me.”

Aunt May walks over to him and wraps him in her arms, kissing the top of his head. “Well, if you figure it out, I’m right here.”

“Thanks, Aunt May.”

“Anytime, kiddo. Now, go get some shoes. This dinner is inedible.”


	2. Chapter 2

Ned smiles as he sees MJ approach his table. Book in hand, she makes her way to his side and sits in the seat right next to his, like she usually does when she notices Peter hasn’t shown and Ned is left to eat lunch alone.

She nods at him as she sits. “Your boyfriend ditched you again?”

He rolls his eyes. “For the last time, Peter is not my boyfriend.”

“Yeah, but you want him to be.”

Ned feels his cheeks turn pink. “Shut up.”

“Nope,” MJ says, but she does anyway, opening her book and starting to read. Ned eats his lunch in silence for a few minutes. He’s glad MJ seems to be the only one who’s pieced together his crush on his best friend. Her teasing, he can handle. Flash’s? Not so much.  

MJ closes her book and looks up, then over at Ned again.

She leans in closer. “Your boyfriend’s here.”

He swats her away halfheartedly. “You’re the worst, you know that?” he teases but she’s already laughing at him and he can’t help but join in.

He almost doesn’t notice when Peter reaches the table, taking a seat on the other side of Ned and wrapping an arm around his shoulder. His grip feels a little tighter than normal, a little more protective.

“Hey, what’s so funny?” he asks, looking over at the pair.

“Nothing!” he forces out and MJ stifles her laughter next to him.

“Um, okay,” Peter says, but his expression looks almost hurt as he removes his arm from Ned’s shoulder and turns his attention to his lunch.

Ned feels a little guilty and tries to change the subject. “Where were you?”

“Makeup test,” the other boy replies, but he doesn’t look up.  

Ned spends the rest of lunch chatting with MJ, but Peter still acts distant. He wishes he understood why.

_______________

Ned goes over to Peter’s after his patrol, having promised to help the other boy catch up with his chem homework. He sits on the floor and leans against Peter’s bed, finishing his own homework perched in his lap. Peter sits across from him, working quietly, eyebrows knitted in concentration. He drops his pencil with a thud, sighing as he adjusts where he lays on the floor. He looks at Ned thoughtfully for a moment before speaking.

“Why were you sitting with MJ at lunch?”

Ned gives a shrug. “Because we’re friends.”

“Since when?”

“I don’t know, since you ditch school all the time and I have no one else to talk to?” Ned feels himself grow a little annoyed. Is _this_ why he was acting so weird at lunch? He turns back to his homework, and for a second he thinks the conversation is over.

“You guys just seemed really close, that’s all.”

Ned’s looks up at him suddenly. “Are you… jealous?”

“N-no! Of course not. That’s crazy. Why would I be jealous?”

“Dunno, MJ is pretty cute.” He stares at Peter, trying to read his reaction, hoping he might be wrong.

“S-sure I guess, but I’m not jealous!” Peter’s voice comes out high pitched and nervous and it’s all Ned needs to confirm his suspicion. Oh god, _Peter likes MJ_. There’s a sinking feeling in his gut as he processes this new information.

Of course Peter likes someone else, how could he be so stupid? How could he think he had a shot how could he-

He slams his binder shut with more force than necessary. “I just remembered- my mom wants me home by 7:00,” he lies. The truth is, he just can’t bear to be around Peter right now.

Peter looks disappointed, especially when Ned declines his offer to walk him home. Ned starts to feel guilty and promises to text him when he gets there, reaching his hand out for their handshake.

It hurts even more than he thought it would.

_______________

Ned sits in the library before school the next morning, studying for his English exam, still sulking a little about last night. He’d always hoped that somehow, maybe, Peter might like him back. But he knows now how stupid he’d been to think that. He tries to push away his thoughts and focus back on his review sheet when MJ takes a seat across from him.

“How was last night? You finally put the moves on Parker?” her voice teases.

“Not in the mood right now, MJ.”

She gives him a questioning look. “What’s up with you? Why are you-”

“Peter likes you. He doesn’t like me, he likes you.” He forces it out quickly, like ripping off a bandaid.

She stares at him for a moment, then starts laughing so hard the librarian has to come over and tell them to be quiet.

She finally stops long enough to speak. “And what led you to that dumbass conclusion?”

“He was totally jealous I was sitting with you yesterday! He was acting all weird about it.”

“Okay, so obviously he must have a crush on _me_ ,” she says, voice skeptical.

“Well, yeah…”

“Peter doesn’t like me.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do. Besides I don’t like him back, so it wouldn’t matter anyway.” She shrugs.

_Fair point._

“Peter is an idiot,” she continues. “Just give him time.”

“You know, you act all tough, but you’re a good friend.”

Ned swears her cheeks go a little pink. “Yeah, whatever. Now fuck off so I can read my book.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Hurry up, Peter, you’re gonna make us late,” MJ’s voice calls out, annoyance clear in her tone. 

“Sorry, I’m coming,” he yells as he pulls on a clean set of clothes. In the past few weeks, Peter has seen a lot more of MJ. Not only has she started sitting with them at lunch almost every day, but Ned has been inviting her to hang out with them outside of school. Which has started to  _ really _ complicate things in Peter’s life, considering MJ still doesn’t know about the whole Spider-Man thing, and being around him more has started to make her extra suspicious about his Stark internship cover. She was skeptical before, but it won’t be much longer before she stops buying it completely.

Plus, if he wasn’t sure if Ned had a crush on MJ before, he is now. It leaves him with that same uneasy feeling, even weeks later. And it makes him feel like a horrible friend. Why can’t he just be happy for Ned?

He pushes these thoughts aside as he meets MJ and Ned in front of his apartment. “Sorry, guys, I got caught up with Stark stuff.”

Ned gives him a happy smile. “It’s okay dude, we should still make it in time for the movie.”

Peter smiles back at him, staring into the other boy’s eyes before MJ’s annoyed voice interrupts, “If you two are done having a moment, it’s time to go.”

He feels his face turn red, but turns to catch up with his friends, ignoring the mix of feelings in his chest. 

_______________

Peter gets home from the movie late, falling onto the couch as soon as he makes it through the door. He sits there for a minute, feeling tired and sad, but not really having an explanation for either emotion.

Aunt May emerges from her room, watching Peter quietly for a moment before coming to sit next to him.

She reaches a hand out to rub his back. “Did you have fun with your friends?” she asks with a gentle smile.

“Yeah, I guess.” But he thinks back to the evening- how Ned and MJ whispered about things he didn’t understand, how he felt sort of left out- and lets out a sigh. “No, not really.”

“You’ve been spending a lot of time with this Michelle girl lately.”

“I think Ned likes her.” He winces at the words that come out of his mouth, and how miserable he sounds to be saying them.

“You don’t seem so happy about that,” she points out. 

“No, I guess I don’t. I don’t get it. I know I don’t like MJ, so there’s no reason for me to be jealous, but I still am.” He sighs again, putting his head in his hands.

“Oh, honey, you don’t think there’s some other reason you might be jealous?”

“What are you-” but he realizes exactly what she’s suggesting. And everything falls into place, everything starts to make sense again. What he’s known deep down all along, but tried to avoid because it could change everything, because it  _ would _ change everything.

“Oh my god, I have a crush on Ned.”

Aunt May doesn’t say anything, just hugs him tightly to her. 

_______________

Peter is still processing this realization the next morning as he leaves for school, wondering how he could have been so stupid, how it took him so long to understand.  _ Of course _ it was Ned all along. It makes so much sense that it almost feels freeing-

Until he remembers that Ned still has a crush on someone else.

He spends most of his morning daydreaming, thinking of Ned and what it would be like to hold his hand, to kiss him, to tell him the truth about his feelings. But he can’t, not when he knows Ned doesn’t feel the same. 

He heads to lunch by himself, surprised to find only MJ at their usual lunch table. She watches him as he approaches, a curious look in her eye.

“Where’s Ned?”

“Shouldn’t you know that?” His voice comes out cold.

She stares at him with an unreadable expression. “What’s your problem?”

“Nothing! Ned likes you, you like him, why would I have a problem?”

Anger flashes across MJ’s face. “Oh my god,  _ that’s _ what this is about? I can’t take this anymore. Ned likes you, okay? Stop being an idiot.”

Regret fills Peter instantly. “I’m so sorry, MJ, that wasn’t cool. Friends shouldn’t talk to each other like that.”

“It’s okay, dude. Chill out.”

He smiles weakly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Ned really likes me?”

She nods at him, returning his smile. 

“And- and you don’t like him, right?” The last thing he wants is to make MJ feel bad.

“Peter, I’ve been dating Liz since homecoming.”

“You WHAT?”

She shrugs. “We hit it off after you and Ned both bailed. I didn’t want to tell you because I thought it might be weird, but you’ve clearly moved on.”

“Yeah, I guess I have. I’m happy for you, MJ.” He smiles at her again. 

“And while we’re at it, I’ve known about the Spider-Man thing since Washington.”

“Ohmygod.” 

_______________

Peter doesn’t see Ned again until after school. 

“Hey,” he calls out, approaching Ned where his stands at his locker. “I missed you at lunch today.”

“Sorry, I had a robotics meeting.”

“It’s okay.” His face grows a little more serious. “Hey, I need to talk to you about something. Something private.”

“Okay…” Ned looks at him curiously. “Why don’t we go to the band hall? It should be empty by now.”

Peter follows Ned down the hall, growing more nervous with each step. They reach the room a few minutes later, and Peter is relieved to find that it really is empty. Ned takes a seat and he follows, scooting close so that their knees touch slightly. His heart beats a little faster. 

“What’s up?” Ned looks up at him uncertainly.

“It’s just- I-” but he can’t find the right words. So instead, he reaches a hand out and threads it through Ned’s hair, leans in and kisses him. Ned lets out a small gasp of surprise before relaxing into the kiss, pulling Peter closer to him. 

And that’s how Abe walks in to find Peter in Ned’s lap, the two still kissing until the sound of his tuba hitting the floor startles them so badly they break apart.

_______________

They walk down the street toward Peter’s apartment in silence. Peter doesn’t know what to say, still embarrassed by their interruption. They reach the front door and Ned finally speaks up.

“What was that back there? Not that it wasn’t nice, but-”

“It was nice,” Peter agrees with a sheepish smile as they enter the apartment and make their way to his room. Peter shuts the door behind them, even though he’s pretty sure they’re alone anyway. “Look, I like you. I think I have for a long time, but I didn’t realize until I thought you liked MJ and I felt all weird about it and I finally understood why.” He takes a deep breath and stares at Ned hopefully.

“You thought I liked MJ?”

He nods and Ned starts laughing a little.

“I thought  _ you  _ liked MJ.”

“Well, it turns out neither of us are her type anyway.”

Ned looks at him confused and he continues. “She’s a lesbian, Ned. She’s dating Liz.”

“WHAT?” 

“I know, right? Also, she knows about Spider-Man but that’s a conversation for another time.” Ned opens his mouth like he wants to protest, but says nothing and Peter continues. “Do you- do you like me too?”

“Of course I do, I’ve liked you for ages!” Ned practically shouts. “But also, we were just making out, like, twenty minutes ago so I feel like you probably could have figured it out.”

Peter grins at him and takes his hand. “I know, but I just wanted to hear you say it.” He closes the distance between them, pulling Ned into a kiss. 

They break apart, foreheads still pressed close together. “Say it again?” Peter asks, still a little breathless.

“I like you.”

Peter smiles warmly. “I like you, too.”

“I know, asshole,” Ned says and they both break into a fit of laughter.

They spend the rest of the night cuddled together on Peter’s bed, watching TV and eating leftover takeout. It’s not much different than their usual hangouts, really, but being able to lean over and take Ned’s hand or kiss his cheek makes it so much better.

He snaps a picture of the two of them and sends it to MJ, heart emojis surrounding their heads. His phone buzzes a few minutes later, her name popping up on the screen as she types a reply. 

“About fucking time,” her message reads and Peter can’t help but agree.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanksgiving sucks but I hope everyone is having a nice day! I'm finally getting around to finishing some drafts I started a while back. This fic is already finished (should be ~3 chapters) so it should probably update soon. Thanks for reading! Come find to me on tumblr @ whisperoftheheart1995 if you want to chat abt peterned


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